Here’s TheBlaze’s Start-to-Finish, 24-Hour+ Coverage of Dramatic Manhunt of Alleged Boston Bombers — It All Started With Reports of Gunshots at MIT

​​Editor’s Note: TheBlaze first began covering this story at around 11 p.m. ET on Thursday night, shortly after gunshots were reported at MIT. From that point on, we had writers covering the story throughout the night, into the early hours and the morning and throughout the day and night on Friday until the second suspect was finally taken into custody.

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• One Boston Marathon bombing suspect is dead, and the other has been taken alive into custody after a massive manhunt.​• ​”Suspect No. 1,” identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed after a shootout with police in the Boston area. His younger brother, “Suspect No. 2,” or Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was taken into custody at approximately 8:45 p.m. in Watertown, Mass.​• The brothers were ethnic Chechens who lived in a southern Russian region near Chechnya before ending up in Boston.​ They had reportedly been living legally in the U.S. for 10 years.​•​ Police say the chain of events began Thursday night when shots were fired on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, just outside Boston. A campus police officer was found shot multiple times in his vehicle, apparently after a confrontation with the suspects, and was later pronounced dead.​•​ A short time later, two armed men said to be the suspects carjacked a Mercedes SUV in Cambridge. The driver was released unharmed at a gas station.​•​ Police began a pursuit of the carjacked vehicle, with the suspects reportedly throwing explosives devices out of the vehicle at police. A transit officer was injured, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev was later pronounced dead an exchange of gunfire. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev escaped.​•​ After an all-day manhunt, police took Dzhokhar Tsarnaev into custody after he had holed up in a boat outside a home in Watertown.

​TheBlaze’s Jason Howerton contributed to this report.

​Latest updates below:

UPDATE 11:04 p.m. ET — The first photos of second Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in police custody began to emerge late Friday night. Check out the photos here.

​​​UPDATE 10:08 p.m. ET​ — Obama addressing the nation, “We will investigate any associations that these terrorists may have had.”

UPDATE 9:38 p.m. ET​ — NBC, ABC and CBS News all report suspect will NOT be read his Miranda rights because the government will invoke the public safety exception.

UPDATE 9:36 p.m. ET​ — U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz: “This will continue to be an ongoing and active investigation.”

​UPDATE 9:34 p.m. ET ​ — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick: This was a complicated case, and there are still some questions remaining to be answered.

Patrick: “It’s a night where I think we’re all going to rest easy.”

​UPDATE 9:32 p.m. ET​ — Massachusetts State Police: For the families who lost loved ones, all the victims, “we are eternally grateful for the outcome here tonight. We have a suspect in custody.”

​​​UPDATE 9:08 p.m. ET​ — Celebrations have broken out in the street near where ​Tsarnaev was captured. Residents standing outside to cheer the police vehicles as they roll out. One police loudspeaker said, “Thank you, thank you, it was a pleasure. Boston PD!”

UPDATE 9:00 p.m. ET​ — The Boston Police Department tweets, “CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody.”

UPDATE 8:55 p.m. ET​ — The Boston Globe reports Tsarnaev is going to Mount Auburn Hospital Cambridge, the same hospital where a transit police officer is recovering from a gunshot wound sustained last night after a confrontation with the suspects.

UPDATE 4:44 p.m. ET​ — Massachusetts State Police say, contrary to earlier reports, the bombing suspects are not suspected in the late Thursday night robbery of a Cambridge 7-11, thought to have kicked off the deadly chain of events, WBZ-TV reports.​

UPDATE 4:37 p.m. ET​ — CNN reports 15 other police officers received minor injuries in the shootout with suspects; all have been released.​

UPDATE 4:17 p.m. ET​ — The Boston Globe reports that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran over his wounded brother with a car as he fled police.

“Someone clearly framed them, I don’t know who framed them…but they framed them and then they shot the boy dead…I’m scared for my son, for his life. They should arrest him and bring him alive,” the father said, according to a translator.

​UPDATE 3:05 p.m. ET​ — The Boston Red Sox game scheduled for tonight has been canceled.

​​UPDATE 3:02 p.m. ET​ — Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was seen at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth — where he is a registered student — this week after the marathon bombing, the Associated Press reports.

​UPDATE 2:49 p.m. ET​ — The White House has released this photo of President Obama meeting with national security team members including FBI Director Robert Mueller, White House counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco, Attorney General Eric Holder, Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken and Vice President Joe Biden in the Situation Room:

Image source: White House

​UPDATE 2:45 p.m. ET​ — Multiple reports have surfaced about Tamerlan Tsarnaev possibly being married and having a 3-year-old daughter.

He also reportedly traveled to Russia last year and returned to the U.S. six months later.

UPDATE 2:37 p.m. ET​ — More car information from the Massachusetts State Police:

​​​UPDATE 2:19 p.m. ET​ — More details about the Tsarnaev brothers, per CNN:

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, the Boston Marathon attack suspect now at large, came to the United States on July 1, 2002, at age 8 on a tourist visa, a federal source said. While here, he sought asylum and became a citizen on September 11, 2012.

His older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed in a shootout with police overnight, came to the United States four years after his brother, on Sept. 6, 2006, at the age of 20, the source said. He came legally but was not naturalized. He was a green card holder and in the country lawfully.

UPDATE 2:17 p.m. ET​ — Suspects’ aunt to reporters: Older (deceased) brothe​r Tamerlan hadn’t been a devout Muslim until about two years ago, when he “started praying five times a day.” TheBlaze’s report is here.

UPDATE 1:36 p.m. ET​ — Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency director Kurt Schwarz says while many people heeded warnings to stay in their homes, a large number went to work this morning before hearing the message. They need to get in their cars, call taxis or call friends and go home and shelter there — not stay at work.

UPDATE 1:26 p.m. ET​ — FBI agents are at the New Jersey home of the sister of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, the Associated Press reports.

​UPDATE 12:57 p.m. ET​ — Former FBI agent Clint Van Zandt tells MSNBC that the decision by police to hold controlled demolitions in Cambridge could indicate a space might be booby-trapped or it could just be precautionary. It could also be done so officers can gain access to other areas.

​UPDATE 12:47 p.m. ET​ — NBC News reports additional details about the carjacking and shootout ended with the death of one of the suspected bombers. They reportedly told the driver of the Mercedes SUV they were behind the marathon bombings, then tried to use his cash card to withdraw money from three ATMs. The suspects ultimately released the driver unharmed at a Cambridge gas station:

As they sped toward Watertown, a police chase ensued and the suspects tossed explosive devices out the window, officials said.

There was a long exchange of gunfire, according to Andrew Kitzenberg of Watertown, who took photos of the clash from his window and spread them on social media.

“They were also utilizing bombs, which sounded and looked like grenades, while engaging in the gunfight,” he told NBC News in an interview. “They also had what looked like a pressure-cooker bomb.

“I saw them light this bomb. They threw it towards the officers,” he said. “There was smoke that covered our entire street.” […]

Kitzenberg said he saw the firefight end when Tamerlan Tsarnaev ran toward the officers and ultimately fell to the ground…[he] had an improvised explosive device strapped to his chest, law enforcement officials said.

Dzhokhar…drove the SUV through a line of police officers at the end of the street, Kitzenberg said.

UPDATE 11:41 a.m. ET​ — From ABC News: Anzor Tsarnaev, the father of the suspected bombers, called on his remaining son to give up peacefully, but said if he is killed, “all hell will break loose.”

The father said he spoke to his sons by phone earlier this week. “We talked about the bombing. I was worried about then,” Anzor Tsarnaev said.

He said his sons reassured him, saying, “Everything is good, Daddy. Everything is very good.”

The elder Tsarnaev insisted that his sons were innocent, but said he would appeal to his son to “surrender peacefully.”

“Give up. Give up. You have a bright future ahead of you. Come home to Russia,” the dad said.

The father warned, however, “If they killed him, then all hell would break loose.”

UPDATE 11:29 a.m. ET​ — Ruslan Tsarni, uncle of the two bombing suspects, said from his home in Maryland: “If you’re alive, turn yourself in and ask for forgiveness…He put a shame on the Tsarni family and put a shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity.”

​UPDATE 10:47 a.m. ET​ — Police appear to be converging on a second location in Watertown, Mass.

UPDATE 10:30 a.m. ET​ — President Obama and Vice President Biden were briefed in the White House Situation Room starting at 9:45 a.m.; those participating included FBI Director Robert Mueller, CIA Director John Brennan, Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Secretary of State John Kerry.

The Tsarnaev family moved to Dagestan from Kyrgyzstan in 2001, a spokesman at a school the children attended told Russia Today […]

“He arrived at our school in first grade and left in second,” Irina Bandurina, the secretary at Makhachkala’s School No.1, told RT. “They arrived from Kyrgyzstan and departed to the US. I’m telling you they lived here for a year. Not the whole year. They arrived at the school in 2001 and departed in March 2002 … There were four of them – two sisters and two brothers… It’s written here that they are from Kyrgyzstan. They are Chechens.”

Suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing appeared to embody the best of the American immigrant experience, having come from southern Russia, near war-torn Chechnya, more than five years ago, and assimilated into the local Cambridge community and culture.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, the alleged bomber pictured in a dark hat in FBI videos released Thursday, was a talented boxer with hopes of joining the US Olympic team. He was reportedly killed overnight in a shootout with police.

His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, the suspect seen in FBI photos in a white cap, was a member of the class of 2011 at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, and won a Cambridge City Scholarship that year. […]

People who knew the suspects are struggling this morning to reconcile the young men they knew, who lived on Norfolk Street in Cambridge, with the acts of terrorism they are accused of committing.

“He was normal,” said Lulu Emmons, who went to Rindge & Latin with Dzhokhar. “He kind of fit in with everyone. Not really close with anyone, but he was friendly.

​UPDATE 9:36 a.m. ET​ — This is the most recent photo the FBI has released of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev:

UPDATE 9:10 a.m. ET​ — The Associated Press reports that the father of the two bombing suspects, Anzor Tsarnaev, said by telephone from Russia that his son who remains on the loose is a smart, accomplished young man:

“My son is a true angel,” the elder Tsarnaev said. “Dzhokhar is a second-year medical student in the U.S. He is such an intelligent boy. We expected him to come on holidays here.”

​UPDATE 8:50 a.m. ET​ — The Associated Press reports:

[T]he uncle of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings [is] confirming that the name of the second suspect is Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother of Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19. […]

The uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., told The Associated Press that the men lived together near Boston and have been in the United States for about a decade. They traveled here together from the Russian region near Chechnya.

​UPDATE 7:36 a.m. ET ​– CNN reports the family fled Chechnya for Kazakhstan several years ago before ending up in Boston.

The older (deceased) brother was a college student at Bunker Community College, had aspired to become an engineer. He once posted on a social media account, “I don’t have any American friends, I don’t understand them.”

CNN states on air, “They are Islamic.”

UPDATE 7: 27 a.m. ET — ​Fox News reports Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev (surviving suspect) was one of 50 students who received money for higher education from a local community in Cambridge in 2011.

The name Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the same name as the second suspect who is still at large, appears on a list of recipients of $2,500 City of Cambridge 2011 City Scholarships. The scholarships are given to seniors at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School who are pursuing higher education.

“Dzhokhar Tsarnaev” appears on the Cambridge, Mass. website as a recipient of a 2011 city scholarship.

UPDATE 7:05 a.m. ET — NBC News and the AP report the bombing suspects are brothers of Chechen origin; had been legal permanent residents in the U.S. for one year; ages 19 and 20. Surviving suspect identified as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, Mass.

UPDATE 6:36 a.m. ET: Fox’s Jennifer Griffin also added that officials are telling them “privately” that they are looking into the possibility that the two suspects have military-type training and have come from overseas

UPDATE 6:04 a.m. ET –– With “Suspect No. 2” still on the loose, police have businesses and residents on alert in the suburbs surrounding Boston. Federal, state and local authorities have spread around the local suburb of Watertown, among other areas, where they are working diligently to try and track him down.

Police are reportedly going door-to-door and telling people to stay inside of their homes. Authorities have made this recommendation for residents in Watertown, Newton, Waltham, Belmont, Cambridge and the Allston-Brighton neighborhoods of Boston to stay indoors.

UPDATE 5:24 a.m. ET –– NBC News, citing law enforcement sources, is reporting that the two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings have international ties and have been in the U.S. legally for about a year. It is the first piece of key information about the alleged terrorists that will undoubtedly come pouring in over the next few days.

UPDATE 4:22 a.m. ET — Officials have confirmed that the suspect at large in Watertown is “Suspect No. 2” in the Boston Marathon bombings. “Suspect No. 1” is believed to have been killed in shootout with police.

The two men are suspected of killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer on campus late Thursday, then stealing a car at gunpoint and later releasing its driver unharmed.

Authorities say the suspects threw explosives from the car as police followed it into Watertown. The suspects and police exchanged gunfire, and one of the suspects was critically injured and later died while the other escaped.

“We believe this to be a terrorist,” Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said. “We believe this to be a man who came here to kill people.”

UPDATE 4:10 a.m. ET — Several journalists are reporting that one of the Boston bombing suspects, the so-called “black hat suspect” or “Suspect No. 1,” may be dead.

The Middlesex County District Attorney’s office released a statement confirming the death of one of the Watertown suspects. The statement does not confirm that the suspect is related to the Boston Marathon bombings.

The Boston Police Department reportedly provided the following image of the second suspect who was still at large in Watertown, Mass. to WBZ-TV. He is believed to be armed and dangerous. While the man in the photo certainly resembles “Suspect No. 2” in the Boston Marathon bombings, it has not has not been confirmed that it is the same person.

WBZ-TV

UPDATE 3:58 a.m. ET — The FBI released a very brief press release early Friday morning:

We are aware of the law enforcement activity in the greater Boston area. The situation is ongoing. We are working with local authorities to determine what happened.

UPDATE 3:20 a.m.ET — NBC is reporting that police have discovered a “pressure cooker” in Watertown, Mass., according to WHDH-TV.

UPDATE 3:01 a.m.ET — WHDH-TV, citing a law enforcement source, is reporting that the individuals in the Watertown, Mass. incident are in fact the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. The station reports one of the suspects is “accounted for” and police are currently searching for a second suspect.

The Boston Globe has also reported that the suspects in Watertown are the Boston bombing suspects.

These reports have not been confirmed and other news outlets have not been able to verify the information.

UPDATE 2:34 a.m. ET — WHDH-TV reports that the suspect shot by police has died. It is still unclear if the suspects are related to the Boston Marathon bombings.

UPDATE 2:24 a.m. ET — A video provided to WCVB-TV reportedly captures some of the intense firefight that erupted between police and a number of unidentified suspects in Watertown, Mass. There was very heavy gunfire exchanged.

Watch below:

[ooyala code=”Nmd2syYjqLZlfstSochbPa933olWs2Wa”]

There was also additional reports of gunfire at around 2:20 a.m. ET.

UPDATE 2:07 a.m. ET — WCVB-TV reports that another officer in Watertown was shot and transported to a local hospital. The station is also reporting that one suspect has been transported to the hospital after being shot.

Police are reportedly searching for at least one more suspect.

UPDATE 1:49 a.m. ET — CNN’s Jake Tapper confirms that there is an FBI presence in Watertown, Mass. following reports of explosions and heavy gunfire, a potentially significant development.

FBI agents on the scene:

(Twitter, @sethmnookin)

Watch video of the chaotic situation via WHDH below:

[ooyala code=”Y5dGoyYjpLLn_TwGTl_mHm_YOwgQ1lyk”]

Stay tuned for updates.

UPDATE 1:36 a.m. ET — CNN’s Gabe Ramirez is reporting that police are saying at least one of the suspects matches the description of a Boston Marathon suspect. This has not been confirmed.

CNN’s Jake Tapper reports that one suspect has been apprehended in Watertown, Mass. It has not been confirmed that suspect who has been arrested is connected to the shooting at MIT or the Boston bombings.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (TheBlaze/AP) — Authorities say a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has died after being shot multiple times on the campus outside Boston, WFXT reports.

Cambridge police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s office says the officer was responding to a report of a disturbance when he was shot multiple times. He later died at a hospital. His name was not immediately released.

State police spokesman Dave Procopio says the shooting took place about 10:30 p.m. outside an MIT building.

Procopio says authorities are searching for a suspect or suspects. The suspects are reportedly connected to a carjacking that took place in the Cambridge area.

About 11,000 people attend the prestigious school. The campus website said police were sweeping the campus and urged people to stay indoors.

10:48 PM today gunshots were reported near Building 32 (Stata) which is currently surrounded by responding agencies. The area is cordoned off. Please stay clear of area until further notice. Unknown if injuries have occurred. Although the situation is considered active and extremely dangerous, an investigation is underway. Updates will be provided at this site when more information becomes available.

This story has been updated to reflect the fact that the shooting was reported on Thursday night.

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